A video showing a man praying in what appears to be a temple is going viral on the internet with the claim that the man had a gamcha (towel) on his shoulders and was offering namaz (Islamic prayer) in the temple.
Several users have shared the video, including some verified Twitter handles such as Uttarpradesh.org and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's mouthpiece Panchjanya, where the location has been identified as Prayagraj's Civil Lines. The claims also mentioned that it was a temple of Lord Hanuman where the man bowed down to offer prayer.
However, we found that the claim was false. In a video uploaded on the official Twitter handle of Prayagraj police, the man offering prayer in the viral clip has been identified as 'Vaibhav Tripathi' who belongs to the Hindu community. It was uploaded on 19 September.
In the video, Tripathi can be heard speaking in Hindi, what loosely translates to, "I come here daily to pray, and I am a devotee of Thakur ji. But I sit in the Vajrasana (a yoga position) pose, due to which some people mistook my identity." He further apologises to the people for the confusion.
The clip was shared with a caption in Hindi that read, "परयागराज के सिविल लाइंस सथित हनुमत निकेतन, हनुमान मंदिर में युवक के कथित तौर पर नमाज पढने का दावा करने वाला वीडियो सोशल मीडिया पर #Viral हो रहा हैं।वीडियो में दाढी रखे हुए एक युवक पीठ पर गमछा लपेटे हुए हाथों को कान तक ले जाते और फिर सजदा करते हुए देखा जा रहा है।"
(Translation: In the Hanumat Niketan situated in Prayagraj's...
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